Our 30mph limit was "pulled out of a hat"

Back in 1934, just prior to the introduction of the 30mph speed limit, there were only around one-tenth of the cars on the road today, but four times as many associated deaths.

There had previously been a blanket 20mph speed limit, set in the 1903 Motor Car Act, but it was repealed for light vehicles in 1930. The spate of deaths caused a change of heart in government in 1934 and 1935, with 30mph brought in for built-up areas.

You might think that 30mph was chosen using scientific evidence but you would be wrong....

"It was pulled out of a hat," says Rod King, founder of the 20's Plenty for Us campaign, which believes that the 30mph limit today is no longer appropriate, credible or acceptable.

"The 30mph limit is compromised beyond belief," says King. Cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Bath, Cambridge, Liverpool, Oxford, Brighton, Newcastle and Edinburgh, have introduced 20mph limits on some roads in their jurisdiction. The Lib Dems have even considered 10mph limits in some areas.

While motoring organisations the RAC and the AA have expressed support for 20mph limits outside schools, they oppose a blanket change from 30 to 20.

Today there are three typical speed limits across the UK:

• a 30mph limit on roads with street lighting (which is taken to indicate a built-up area)
• a 60mph national speed limit on single carriageways
• and a 70mph top speed on dual carriageways and motorways

The limits are meant to keep everybody safe. The Department for Transport (DfT) says that for every 1mph the average speed of vehicles reduces on roads, there are 6% fewer accidents.
Speed limits should be "evidence-led and self-explaining", the DfT explains, and "should be seen by drivers as the maximum speed rather than as a target speed at which to drive irrespective of conditions". Road safety in the UK is relatively good, with one death on the roads for every 20,000 cars.

Most UK Drivers Think it's Fine to Break the Speed Limit -- A Bit

According to recent research the vast majority of UK drivers believe that going slightly over the limit is harmless, in fact 1 in 5 UK motorists thinks that driving 10mph over the speed limit is acceptable. Whilst almost one in three motorists are of the opinion that a driver traveling in a 20mph zone should only face punishment if they go 10mph or more over the speed limit, this is cause for some concern as 20 mph speed limits are typically found near schools and hospitals, where travelling at a reduced speed is crucial for the safety of children and patients.  Despite thinking that marginally speeding is not a problem the survey revealed that the vast majority do support limits being in place

The survey was carried out by German based insurance company Allianz, in an attempt to discover British attitudes to speeding. Other data gathered included:

• 74 per cent of motorists believe it is okay to go over all speed limits by 5mph 
• 65 per cent of motorists nominated motorways as most likely to induce speeding 
• 59 per cent of drivers get frustrated with other motorists who stick to the speed limit. 

There were many excuses for speeding but the most common were seeing a empty road in front of them, their speed gradually creeping up, and - perhaps the most predictable reason - being late.

More than one third of motorists (35 per cent) agree that compulsory speed awareness courses should become standard alongside the current penalties and 74 per cent of motorists agree there should be harsher penalties for extreme cases of speeding. 

The UK Chief Executive of Allianz Insurance said: "With 1 in 4 drivers saying they had been personally involved in an accident which involved excessive speed, motorists can help significantly reduce the number of accidents on Britain’s roads by driving within the speed limit."